Thorn Creek Basin earns wastewater treatment Gold Award

Thorn Creek Basin Sanitary District is in the spotlight once again for its outstanding wastewater treatment performance for an entire year.

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) honored Thorn Creek Basin with its Gold Award for 100% compliance with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) requirements for wastewater treatment during the 2020 calendar year.

The Thorn Creek Basin treatment plant in Chicago Heights operates under an IEPA discharge permit that contains thousands of individual wastewater treatment compliance points.

The national association recognized the Sanitary District to meeting all IEPA required compliance points, a very high standard that few treatment plants achieve.

“The Gold Award means that the District operated in top form during days, nights, holidays and weekends for the entire year,” said Jennifer Hindel , Thorn Creek Basin executive director.

“Sanitary District members have worked tirelessly through the pandemic to achieve this remarkable level of performance,” Hindel said.

“Their hard work, with the ongoing support of the Thorn Creek Basin Board of Trustees, has made this accomplishment possible,” she said.

During the past decade, the NACWA has honored Thorn Creek Basin with its Gold and Silver Awards multiple times.  The Silver Award is bestowed for 99%+ permit compliance.

Jennifer Hindel, Thorn Creek Basin executive director, and Lucas Streicher, the Sanitary District’s director of operations, display the Gold Award earned for outstanding wastewater treatment at the District’s plant in Chicago Heights.